Council to vote on borrowing bylaws

By Lethbridge Herald on June 14, 2025.

Herald photo by Al Beeber The Oldman River is seen from atop the coulees on the west side of Lethbridge. Two projects if approved by council will provide critical infrastructure for the water treatment plant.

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald

City council acting in its capacity as Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to recommend an increase in the budget for two projects at the water treatment plant that are deemed critical for its continued operation.

Mayor Blaine Hyggen was absent from the meeting.

The projects include one that will mitigate the risk of a clarifier failure while the second will mitigate risks of power supply failures.

The first includes the construction of a new high-rate clarifier, intended to provide redundancy of the solid contact clarifiers which have been operational for more than 40 years. It also includes upgrades to the ancillary chemical and support systems associated with the clarifiers.

The medium voltage upgrades will include installation of new transformers, two new main electrical feeds to the plant, switchgear, motors and decommissioning of aging electrical equipment. The equipment to be replace is nearing the end of its service life and the City is finding challenges to repair or replace components because of compatibility issues and long lead times.

The electrical upgrades will include full redundancy of the electrical utility service to bolster reliability of the plant’s electrical system.

The SPC voted to recommend council amend the 2022-31 Capital Improvement program budget for the water treatment plant redundancy project from $14 million to $42.3 million and to amend the capital budget for the voltage project from $7.5 million to $24.9 million and to give first reading of two borrowing bylaws – Bylaw 6498 and 6499 respectively – on June 24.

City manager Lloyd Brierley told the SPC, before it heard from Chief Financial Officer/ treasurer Darrell Mathews and Director of Infrastructure Joel Sanchez, about the importance of the projects to the city and the region.

He said there are pressing needs to expand water and wastewater treatment capacity. After council directed administration to investigate more options and seek provincial and federal money to offset the costs of the much-needed projects, Brierley said administration was recommending approval of the amended capital budgets for projects E-12 and E-13.

Those projects, said Brierley, “are the first steps to increase our water treatment capacity to accommodate economic and population growth in Lethbridge and our surrounding regional communities.”

The city manager noted the amended capital budgets are three times the cost of budgets that were originally approved.

“That is a sobering reality,” he said before Sanchez outlined the factors responsible for the increase.

“These projects are critically important,” said Brierley.

The SPC heard in a report that costs of the two tendered projects have come in over budget due to factors including inflation. Electrical and mechanical equipment costs have both risen in the last four years while market demand has driven up costs as well with multiple infrastructure projects being completed across Canada.

Mathews said that within the City’s existing capital payment capacity – or simply the amount of existing operating budget funding the water utility has for debt payments – the City can fund all the existing loan requirements as well as previously approved CIP projects for UV disinfection, reservoir upgrades, reservoir fill line twinning and the E-12 and E-13 upgrades.

The overall cost of the projects has risen to $67.2 million from $21.5 million, noted Mathews.

External borrowing of about $29.5 million is needed for the projects, said Mathews. Water capital of about $15.7 million, a reserve fund of $10.4 million, water accumulated surplus of $2.3 million and a potential grant of $9.3 million are among other funding sources.

If approved the projects will start this fall with completion expected by December of 2027.

Sanchez told the SPC if either of the projects isn’t completed, “it increases the risk to the overall water system” and could result in water shortages that impact city residents as well as commercial and regional customers.